CONDITIONS ABROAD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19857, 30 January 1928, Page 11

CONDITIONS ABROAD.

IMPROVEMENT IN BRITAIN. INDICATIONS OF PROSPERITY. COMPARISON WITH AMERICA. "Conditions in England are not so bad as people are led to believe. They are improving, and the improvement is a solid and steady one." This opinion was expressed by Dr. J. Hight, rector of Canterbury College, and leading economist, last evening, on his return by the Aorangi from a visit to England, America and Continental countries. Comparing the positions of the two English-speaking countries, Dr. Hight said a great difference was that the English were prone to over-shadow the dark part of the picture, while the Americans exaggerated the light side. Dr. Hight said that from the very beginning of his visit to England, he had been struck with the fact that the country seemed prosperous. To the casual observer there was very little evidence of bad times. The retail trades seemed to be very busy, places of amusement -were in full swing, and holidiv traffic had shown a consideraoble increase. Economists who had analysed the position carefully, Dr. Hight said, were agreed that most of the people were better off than they were previously, in that they were getting a larger share of the national wealth than previously. Responsible officers who were in charge of the social service side of education were all emphatically of the opinion that the conditions of the poorer people in London had improved, due largely to the immense amount of social betterment work and to a better type of education. Outlook in America. There were only a few industries, Dr. Sight remarked, which had not improved in respect of employment in the last four years. The distributing trades, motor trades, the cotton and artificial silk businesses had all improved. On the other hand, "the industries adversely affected were coalmining, iron and steel trades, shipbuilding and the woollen trade. The average English business man, Dr. Hight describad as being too slow to change in a world of swift changes. In the main, they were ultra-conservative, although there were signs of improvement. Of the United States, Dr. Hight said that in spite of superficial well-being there was a large amount of unemployment, the motor-car, steel and oil industries being particularly affected.- In North and South Dakota particularly, banks were failing and farmers were giving up their holdings. Employment and payrolls were lower in October than at any time 6ince the autumn of 1924, when the depression throughout the country was undoubted and acknowledged. The tide of prosperity had commenced to ebb in the summer of last year. The Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Commerce had issued reports predicting continued prosperity, and business magnates had also stated that 1928 would be a better year for the United Slates, but economists did not take such a "rosy" view of affairs. Position of the Farmers. Visitors to Germany were impressed by the great strides made by that country in re-establishing its trade. France, also, was endeavouring to regain its former position. Dr. Hight formed the conclusion that New Zealand was a fortunate country. It was certainly suffering from a period of dull times, but this was apparent everywhere, and was more marked in other countries. A condition which was apparent in New Zealand, as elsewhere, was the inferior position now occupied by the farmer. This had been one of the main points discussed at the recent World Economic Conference in Geneva. The farmer found himself in the position that he was forced to sell his goods in unsheltered markets, whereas his costs and the goods he had to buy were dearer relatively than the goods he had to sell. This had been brought about largely bv the system of high protective tariffs'obtaining in many countries.